Woodlake Commons Shopping Center to be sold at auction on Sept. 8

While The Breeden Cos. is going full steam ahead with apartment projects in Virginia, one of its shopping centers in Chesterfield County is heading for the auction block.

On Sept. 8, two days before the Virginia Beach-based commercial real estate developer celebrates the grand opening of a 420-unit apartment complex in Henrico County that is almost totally leased, the Woodlake Commons Shopping Center in Chesterfield County is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction at 10 a.m. at the front entrance to the Chesterfield County Circuit Court.

The 47,000-square-foot center, located close to the main entrance of the Woodlake residential subdivision off of U.S. 360, was built in 2006. The mortgage loan on the 14-acre property went to a special servicer, C-III Asset Management LLC, in late January, according to a property report from Trepp. The New York-based company provides information, analytics and technology to the CMBS, commercial real estate and banking markets.

The report says the $8.7 million loan was transferred due to a written statement from the borrower, that said  “it is unable to remit future required payments due to low occupancy/cash flow.”  Breeden owns the property through an entity called Woodlake Retail, LLC, according to court records.

Since then, the company has defaulted on the loan, which currently has a balance of $7.9 million. Wells Fargo holds the note.

A spokeswoman for the Breeden Co. said, “We are unable to comment on the transaction.”

Woodlake Commons’ largest tenant is Spotlight Studio of Dance Inc. It occupies 12,600 square feet of space, with a lease that comes up for renewal in June of 2017.  Other tenants in the three-building center include an ABC store and Shogun Japanese Steak & Sushi.

According to Trepp, Breeden said it struggled to fully lease the center because of low rental rates offered by competitive properties in the area.

Jay Kepley of Kepley Broscious & Biggs, a law firm in Henrico County, is the trustee handling the auction.

On Sept. 10, the Breeden Co. celebrates the grand opening of one of its largest apartment projects in the Richmond region. The $70 million Marshall Springs at Gayton West, located in the Short Pump area of Henrico, has leased 306 of its 420 units, according to the company.